Though he’s been the coach of the Carolina Panthers since 2011, Ron Rivera is still a Bear at heart.
Rivera, who played linebacker for Chicago from 1984 to 1992, gave his old team a helping hand during last night preseason’s game by calling a timeout before Chicago’s Elliott Fry attempted a 43-yard field goal.
Wait … isn’t icing the kicker usually a tactic that would potentially hurt, not help, the kicking team?
Yes, in most cases. In this case, it was helpful for the Bears because they got a chance to see how Fry would handle the pressure. After the way last season ended for Chicago, the Bears will take every chance they can get to better evaluate their rookie kicker.
For what it’s worth, Fry drained the kick.
Elliot Fry just doing what he does.. 🐐. His 43-yard FG is good!! #Gamecocks pic.twitter.com/umN6vBzza8
— James (@GamecockSplash) August 9, 2019
Afterward, Riverboat Ron admitted that perhaps he was doing his old team a solid.
“You know what is funny, I did that to help the Bears because they are in a kicking contest,” Rivera said.
Though it came during a meaningless preseason came, Fry’s make did have some added significance because it came from the same distance and direction that Chicago kicker Cody Parkey missed from to end the season last year during a home playoff loss to Philadelphia Eagles.
“You could feel it,” Nagy said about Fry’s make. “You could sense it, from all the fans, and I looked over and I said — after the completion down the middle, and then they spotted it, and I’m so used to seeing — like my math is really good right now. I can figure out real quick how far a field goal kick is from the spot of the ball, so I realized it was 43. Am I right? Yeah, then coach Rivera pops a timeout, too.”
In addition to Fry, the Bears also have kicker Eddy Pineiro in camp competing for the job.
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